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Missouri State

Chance Moore

Bears Begin Key Valley Road Swing at Evansville

February 10, 2023

By: MSU Athletics Communications
Game 26 - Missouri State Bears (13-12, 9-6 MVC) at  Evansville Purple Aces (5-21, 1-14 MVC)
Date and Time Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023 | 1:00 p.m. (Central)
Location Ford Center (10,000), Evansville, Ind.
Tickets Tickets | (812) 488-2237
Radio KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Corey Riggs, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live | Varsity Network
Television ESPN+ (Kyle Peach, Rick Johnston) | Watch
Series Missouri State leads 42-36 | Last Meeting: MSU 85, UE 62 (1/4/23) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Evansville | MVC Weekly Release | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearsUnite
Bears Mobile App App Store (Apple Devices) | Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next MSU travels to Bradley on Wednesday, Feb. 15 (7 p.m.) | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State begins a two-game Valley road swing Sunday when the Bears travel to Evansville for a 1 p.m. tip-off at the Ford Center (ESPN+). The Purple Aces are coming off a double-figure home win over UNI that snapped a 12-game losing streak, while the Bears are looking to secure their second straight series sweep over UE on the heels of a key home win over Belmont on Wednesday.  
  • The series between the Bears and Aces is a rich one that dates back to March 13, 1959 when Evansville beat MSU in the national championship game of the NCAA Division II Tournament, 83-67, at Roberts Stadium. MSU now leads the series, 42-36, with Missouri State winning the last three meetings. The Bears are 14-23 all-time in Evansville  and 5-7 at Ford Center. Bears head coach Dana Ford is 7-2 all-time against the Aces, including a 4-1 mark at Ford Center.
  • Kendle Moore (Sr., Danville, Ill.) needs 3 points to reach 1,200 for his career (143 games). In Wednesday's win over Belmont, Moore knocked down 5 threes to eclipse 200 for his career (204), which ranks No. 113 on the NCAA's active list.
  • The Bears have emerged as one of the country's top shot-blocking teams, averaging 4.16 rejections per contest which ranks 2nd in The Valley and 58th nationally. Jonathan Mogbo (Jr, West Palm Beach, Fla.) ranking 3rd in the MVC in blocks per game (1.2), while Donovan Clay (Sr., Alton, Ill.) ranks 10th (0.9). 
  • MSU is 2-2 all-time when playing on Super Bowl Sunday. The last time the Bears were victorious on Super Bowl Sunday was a 72-62 road win at Illinois State (2/7/21) on the same date as Super Bowl LV (Tampa Bay 31, Kansas City 9). 
  • In the 4 games from Jan. 24 to Feb. 5, Alston Mason (So., Overland Park, Kan.) averaged 20.5 points and 5.5 assists per games. He has scored in double figures in 5 of the last 7 contests.
  • The Bears have used 14 different starting lineups this season, the program's most since the 2012-13 season (14).
  • Two Missouri State players are celebrating birthdays this weekend with Damien Mayo (Fr., St. Louis, Mo.) turning 19 on Friday and Kanon Gipson (Fr., Rogersville, Mo.) turning 20 on Sunday.
  • During Dana Ford's tenure at Missouri State, the Bears have won 24 Valley road games, the second-most in the league in that span behind Drake's 26.
  • Over the last 3 games, Chance Moore (So., Brookhaven, Ga.) is averaging 12.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
  • In a unique statistical trend, senior Donovan Clay has recorded 21 steals in each of the past three seasons. He also posted 20 steals his freshman season. Clay is also on pace to record Missouri State's first 100-assists season since 2019 (Josh Webster) with 83 dimes to his credit in 2022-23.
  • The Bears are 3 treys away from 200 on the season, which would mark the 13th time in program history -- and sixth time in seven years -- MSU has reached that milestone. MSU's 7.88 threes per game currently ranks 2nd all-time in program history, trailing only last season's record-setting 8.32 treys per contest. 
  • MSU ranks 30th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 63.4 points per game this season. The Bears have surrendered 63.6 points per contest in MVC games -- 62.1 ppg when adjusting for regulation play only.
  • Over the last 6 games, Jonathan Mogbo is averaging 11.7 points and 10.8 rebounds per game with a .660 FG percentage.
The Series
  • The series between the Bears and Aces is a rich one that dates back to March 13, 1959 when Evansville beat MSU in the championship game of the Division II Tournament, 83-67, at Roberts Stadium. MSU now leads the series, 42-36, with Missouri State posting a 24-11 record in Springfield against Evansville (10-4 at GSB Arena), a 14-23 ledger in Evansville (5-7 at Ford Center) and 4-2 mark at neutral sites. MSU swept the regular-season series with UE last season.
  • Earlier this season in Springfield (1/4/23), Missouri State had four players score in double figures, including a double-double from Jonathan Mogbo, to score an 85-62 conference win. Mogbo's 14 points and 10 rebounds marked his first Division I double-double, while Chance Moore poured in a team-high 19 points on five 3-pointers. Missouri State also got 17 points and 9 boards from Donovan Clay, while Dalen Ridgnal added 14 points and 9 rebounds in a wire-to-wire MSU victory. Evansville got a game-high 22 points from Marvin Coleman and 18 points from Kenny Strawbridge.
  • Missouri State took a double-figure lead less than eight minutes into the game, then later in the half, a Clay-led 6-0 mini-run gave MoState a 39-23 lead just before the intermission. MSU put things out of reach in the second half as free throw from freshman N.J. Benson, who scored a season-high 9 points, at the 15:49 mark gave the home side a 47-27 lead for its first 20-point lead. | Box Score
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 85-63 (.574) in his fifth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 52-19 (.732) ledger at Great Southern Bank Arena, 26-33 record in away games, and 7-11 mark at neutral sites. He is now 142-128 (.526) in his ninth season as a head coach, including four seasons at Tennessee State. Ford is also 53-34 (.609) in Valley games (29-15 at home, 24-19 away). 
  • Coach Ford is 7-2 all-time vs. Evansville (4-1 at Ford Center, 3-1 at Great Southern Bank Arena).
  • He picked up his 100th career victory on Feb. 7, 2021 at Illinois State (72-62) and coached his 100th game at Missouri State on Dec. 15, 2021 vs. South Dakota State. His win over Oakland on Nov. 27 in The Bahamas was his 75th victory at MSU.
  • CollegeInsider.com recently named Ford one of the dozen "Coaching Names to Remember" for the 2021-22 season.
  • In a breakout 2021-22 campaign, Missouri State finished the season as one of the nation's most-efficient offensive teams, ranking 2nd nationally in free throw percentage (.797), 14th in field goal percentage (.482) and 23rd in 3-point FG percentage (.374) -- the only DI team to rank in the top 25 in all three. KenPom also rated the Bears 21st in effective FG percentage (54.6) and 23rd in adjusted offensive efficiency (113.2). MSU led the MVC in all of those metrics, except 3-point percentage, while also leading The Valley in scoring (77.3) and turnovers per game (10.6), which ranked 38th and 34th in the country, respectively.
  • Likewise, the 2021-22 Bears finished as runners-up in the Missouri Valley Conference, racking up a 23-11 overall record and 13-5 record in the league. The Bears' season win total was the program's most since 2011 and the 10th-best in team history. The squad advanced to the MVC Tournament semifinals for the third straight year and also represented The Valley in the NIT in Ford's first postseason tournament showing at MoState. The Bears also set team records for 3-point field goals (283) while boasting two first-team all-conference players in the school's all-time best scoring tandem – Gaige Prim and Isiaih Mosley -- while Donovan Clay earned MVC All-Defensive Team honors, and Isaac Haney landed on the MVC All-Freshman Team. Jaylen Minnett was also named to the MVC All-Bench squad.
  • For the third time in his head coaching career, Ford was a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season.
  • He was introduced as Missouri State's 18th men's basketball coach on March 22, 2018 after coaching the previous four seasons at Tennessee State. The native of Tamms, Illinois was 57-65 (.467) at Tennessee State, including a 52-39 ledger in his last three seasons in Nashville. He coached five All-OVC players and two OVC All-Newcomer Team selections during his tenure at TSU. Under his leadership, TSU doubled its home attendance average and twice earned votes in the AP Top 25 poll in 2016-17. 
  • Ford, 38, earned the Ben Jobe Award in 2016 as the nation's top Division I minority coach. That same year, he was named Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year and NABC District 19 Coach of the Year after engineering one of the biggest turnarounds in NCAA history, from a 5-26 record in his first season to a 20-11 mark in 2015-16.
  •  He has served as an assistant at Tennessee State, Wichita State and Illinois State and was responsible for recruiting future NBA talents such as Robert Covington (Trail Blazers) and Fred Van Vleet (Raptors).
Rebound Foundation
  • Bears' head coach Dana Ford and his wife, Christina, are founders of the Rebound Foundation. The not-for-profit raises funds and awareness to help renew and restore women who have experienced a life of domestic abuse. The foundation provides a stable home and fresh start to abuse victims and their children. The Rebound Foundation currently provides homes in Springfield, Mo., and Chicago, Ill.
  • Pledge to assist the Rebound Challenge today! Pledge Link
  • This year's Rebound Foundation game is vs. Murray State on Feb. 21.
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